Financial Times columnist Simon Kuper has written two previous columns about how to save France and the U.K. (Kuper is a Brit married to an American). Today, Kuper writes about how to save the U.S., and the way he believes the U.S. can be saved is by modeling it in part by our military. Say what? Kuper spent two years working on a U.S. military base giving seminars to soldiers. He explains:

1. Build socialism. Life in the US military is much like life in Sweden (unless you’re off in Afghanistan spreading democracy). The officers in my seminars spent a quarter of their careers in education, because the US military believes in life-long learning. The military also provides socialised healthcare, subsidised childcare, early pensions etc. I’ve never seen a socialist paradise like it, and I grew up in the Netherlands in the 1970s. Most of the military’s entitlements will survive the budget cuts now being proposed by Chuck Hagel, the defence secretary.

Of, course, this is all funded by taxpayer money (and lots of it!), but I see what he’s saying. That’s just one out of eight reasons Kuper provides. More here.

Well, the U.S. military being 1/100 of the size of the U.S. civilian population may not make all those subsidies realistic. We provide the military with generous subsidies because they make enormous sacrifices for the rest of the population.

But I definitely agree with the military being more open and tolerant than society in general.